Menu

Peninsular Thinking A conversation about Bremerton, Port Orchard, Poulsbo, Silverdale, Bainbridge Island, Kingston, Manchester, Seabeck, Southworth, Suquamish, Belfair, Keyport, Olalla, Bangor, Hansville, Indianola, Port Gamble, Allyn, Port Ludlow, Gig Harbor and every once in a while something about the good folks who don't have the good fortune to live here.

Category Archives: Port of Bremerton

Proving that we really can all get along, the Port of Bremerton,
city of Port Orchard and city of Bremerton will team up over
Memorial Day weekend for Kitsap Harbor Festival.

The port is hosting the festival to showcase its marinas on
either side of Sinclair Inlet. City governments, chambers of
commerce and community groups all have their oars in the water to
offer up a boatload of fun.

At the heart of the festivities will be boats: big, small,
vintage, military and famous. Scheduled events include a visit from
tall ships, boat shows and races, food and entertainment.

Port Orchard is using the festival to roll all its wacky
maritime festivities into one weekend, including turning the town
over to pirates, a murder mystery contest, a Dingy Derby Race, a
seagull wing cooking contest and … the ever lovin’ reason we are
Port Orchard, while other, more sane towns are not … the Seagull
calling contest on Sunday.

Bremerton’s waterfront will be alive with action, including a
Bridge-2-Bridge Run, arts and antique show, Kitsap Car Cruz with
live entertainment, scuba demos, tours of an historic Coast Guard
vessel and more.

Linking the two fair cities over the weekend will be the
Bremerton to Port Orchard foot ferry, operating every 30 minutes
from 8:30 a.m. to 7:45 p.m. Saturday through Monday. The fare is $2
each way. The port and both cities contract for the service, which
is no longer provided on Sundays by Kitsap Transit.

Events are on the Bremerton Boardwalk (B) or Port Orchard
waterfront (P), unless otherwise specified. For a complete listing
of events, visit the Port of Bremerton’s Kitsap
Harbor Festival page.

Another issue between the city and the port is downtown parking.
An earlier impasse appears to be breached with a proposal now on
the table to have the city relinquish 32 spaces it controls near
the Port Orchard Marina to the port. In exchange, the port would
give up control of 31 spaces next to the park the city wants for
paid parking. About 10 spaces along the water next to the park
would be city controlled for park users. The time limit there would
be two hours.

The discussion of the pathway and parking is part of a larger,
comprehensive plan for the waterfront area that the port and the
city are working on.

To fully appreciate the history of mild to moderate contention
between the city and the port on these and other erstwhile points
of contention, one needs to look at a map of the waterfront showing
each entity’s interest in the various properties. In short, it’s
complicated.

The map, below, was created by the port and shows the patchwork
of ownership and interests that forms the basis of the relationship
between the city and the port.